Larry Mendte
Former Access Hollywood co-host Larry Mendte (born January 16, 1957) anchors KYW-TV's Eyewitness News at 6 p.m. in Philadelphia. He joined the station in 2003 after being wooed from rival WCAU-TV. While Mendte was at WCAU, the station's newscast became number one at 11PM for the first time in 30 years. While at WCAU Mendte started the Sunday Morning news interview program "Live at Issue."
KYW launched a big "Make The Switch" promotional campaign when Mendte came over from WCAU. KYW's ratings immediately jumped with Mendte in the main seat, within a year CBS3 beat NBC10, Mendte's former station (which ironically was the original CBS O&O in Philadelphia, whereas KYW was an NBC affiliate until 1995), at 11PM and 6PM.
Mendte has been named as one of the 75 Greatest Living Philadelphians by the Philadelphia Daily News in honor of the Philadelphia Eagles 75th anniversary.
Biography
Born and raised in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, He attended St. Philomena School, the local Catholic School. During this time in his childhood, Mendte got his start in news, when he delivered the former Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. Upon graduating from Monsignor Bonner High School in nearby Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, Mendte attended West Chester University and earned a B.A. in journalism.
Mendte received a great deal of notoriety for a series of reports he did on the Eternal Flame, a tribute to American veterans, in Philadelphia's historic Washington Square. Mendte's reports on the flame forced the city to fix a gas line and relight the flame. His efforts were read into the Congressional record by Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Mendte was honored with an Edward R. Murrow Award in the writing category for his reports on the Eternal Flame and a report on the Iraq War.
In 2006 Mendte was inducted into the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame. Mendte has 70 Regional Emmy Awards from New York, San Diego, Chicago and Philadelphia. He has set Emmy records in both Chicago and Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, for instance, he has won a record 4 Emmys in the Outstanding Anchor category.
Mendte was the first male host of Access Hollywood when the show debuted in 1996. He co-hosted Monday through Friday with Giselle Fernandez and also co-hosted the weekend edition with Nancy O'Dell. He left the show to accept the 4, 6 and 11 O'Clock main anchor job at WCAU in his hometown of Philadelphia. It was the first ever 4 O'Clock newscast in Philadelphia.
For a short time during his stint in San Diego, Mendte also performed as a stand-up comedian in both San Diego and Los Angeles. He also wrote and produced a humorous feature called "How Come?" that ran nationally on the syndicated show Hard Copy.
From 1984 to 1988 he was a weekend anchor on WABC-TV's Eyewitness News. He has also anchored the news and was an investigative reporter at WBBM-TV in Chicago from 1991 to 1995. While at WBBM, Mendte's series of reports on school bus safety resulted in a new state law. Mendte also anchored the news at WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio, WLYH-TV in Lebanon, PA, WTAJ-TV in Altoona, PA and KIEM-TV in Eureka, CA. Mendte also has anchored the weather at KFMB-TV in San Diego. He also has been the main sports anchor at WLYH-TV and he's been a fill-in sports anchor at WABC.
He is married to Dawn Stensland, who is the 10pm news anchor at WTXF-TV Fox Philadelphia since 2001. She came to Philadelphia in 1997 as anchor for KYW-TV. Then anchored CBS News Saturday Morning for a year and a half. In the 1990's she was an anchor and reporter at WBBM in Chicago, Illinois and WKYC-TV in Cleveland, Ohio. Together, they have two children, Michael, born in 2004; and David born in 2006. In addition, Mendte has two adult children Stacia and Jonathan from a previous marriage.
Mendte has also admitted to gaining unusually large notoriety for his semi-frequent guest spots on Philadelphia's 94.1 WYSP afternoon DJ Kidd Chris's show.
Filmography
Mendte has a small filmography, having appeared in three movies. All three were made in 1998 or later, and in each one, Mendte has appeared as a television anchor or reporter. None of the films were major successes, and Mendte has never acted in more than a cameo style appearance. Films: Primary Colors, Shadow of Doubt, Snipes.
Mendte has also written and directed two short documentaries. Ben Franklin: Stealing Lightning from the Sky aired across the country on Ben Franklin's birthday in 2006. The documentary questioned whether Ben Franklin really did conduct his famous kite experiment. And later that year Mendte wrote and directed Alex Scott: A Stand for Hope, a short documentary about Alex Scott, founder of Alex's Lemonade Stand. Alex Scott: A Stand for Hope won the award for Best Documentary at the Reno, Oxford, Danville, West Chester, Lake Arrowhead and Reel Award film Festivals. Mendte was also named Best Pennsylvania Film maker for "Ben Franklin: Stealing Lightning From the Sky" at the West Chester Film Festival. "A Stand for Hope" also won the Sigma Delta Chi award for best documentary in the country in 2007. The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are given each year by the Society of Professional Journalists. It is considered one of the highest honors in journalism.